| Player | Characters |
|---|---|
| Corky | Grogg, Kenny, Andrya |
| Mac | Books, Tyrade, Ruurik |
| Mike | Blargg, Yosh, Agamemnon |
| Jon | Victor, Crush |
| Andie | Myla, Addie, Mei |
| NPC's | Curly, Phan Lo |
The battle with the mixed group of ogres was over and it was time to see if there were any rewards to be had and boy were there. While the ordinary ogres had very little in their possession the ogre magi had a number of gems and pieces of jewelry. So much that the found items might just cover the cost of the trip and then some. With several members of the team having the ability to appraise items they were very sure of the value of their booty. With the bodies searched clean it was time to turn to the critical task of healing the injured team members and there were quite a few who had sustained severe damage. They patched themselves up as best they could and got moving quickly to put some distance between themselves and this ambush location. Fortunately not long in to their travel Curly was able to see the tracks of the ogres that had escaped broke away from the direction they were travelling. After a quiet day of walking they were able to camp and heal.
Their configuration remained steady with a few team members walking the ridges and the main party with the wagon traversing the valleys. They weaved a path as best they could avoiding homesteads and any land that could be identified as belonging to someone. But it was inevitable that sooner or later they would encounter something and this time it was a lone rider on horseback trotting along in their general direction. Yosh, on the ridge, attempted to signal Crush down with the main party but one could say they experienced a little “miscommunication”. While both knew how to signal it became apparent the language and signals used by their tribes were different. Crush read Yosh’s message to be… well… rather insulting. A few rather rude gestures were exchanged between the two as Yosh could not understand the responses. The problem caused Crush to refuse to observe and communicate thus ending the ability to communicate between the scouts and party.
With the lines broken Tyrade and Yosh came down from the ridge to relay the info directly. Mei returned to the ridge line to see who may be approaching. She was able to quickly identify the rider as Phan Lo, her co student and friend they had run in to in Okinoto. Mei made herself visible and Phan Lo came riding directly at her. She was obviously troubled and had been riding for some time trying to catch up. She had a story to tell and an apology to convey. In town she had directed the group towards a larger group of the White Ninja on orders. Her family had been taken and was held by the Ninja and her compliance was required for their safety. But when the party was able to flee the town her family was murdered. Once this was done and with nothing to hold her compliance she fled the town hoping to find Mei and warn her. The White Ninja were lying in wait for her in Anpuru wanting to use her to find her master who Phan Lo was able to reveal was in hiding in his secret Cliffside cave. Mei was convinced enough to believe in her. The party then gathered up some materials and gave her directions to Midway, contacts to reach out to and a special token from Ruurik that would uniquely identify her as a friend of Midway. With that Phan Lo mounted her horse and left at a gallop headed for Apua and hopefully a boat to take her east.
Mei took some time to relay the entire conversation to Books given most of it was not in common. They decided a new plan had to be devised. It was determined they would now head for Unundu first, gather what they could, organize their attack plan and then move out. The party moved out and traveled as quickly as they could and were able to avoid any encounters until they arrived in Enora. This was to be a quick stop over. The group paused for a good, hot meal, Tyrade stopped at the local alchemy shop looking for components, Blargg did a little shopping finding an exquisite silk scarf and then off they all went now heading for Unundu.
Moving as reasonably quick as they could they made directly for the location of the town. Mei was able to identify a path that would take them to the Ran-Jo landing where they could cross the river and make their way to Unundu. It took another 4 days but they arrived without further interruptions.
Ran-Jo landing was an interesting place. The docks and piers began some distance from the actual river. A first dock area was built close to where the ground led to a relatively dry marshy area. A long pier structure led from this dock for a few hundred yards down to where the river was and another dock. Mei conveyed the area flooded frequently and the second dock was used when the river level rose above the current level washing out the regular dock. Kenny carefully steered the wagon down the long pier to the working dock and on to the barge waiting there. The group had to split in two groups to cross, the wagon and a few members going on the first trip. The river was fast and a bit turbulent. So much it caused Kenny to fall from the wagon and drop in to the river on the downstream side of the barge. Lucky for him he was able to make a last ditch grab for a tether rope crawling his way out of the water with the help of Addie. The second group crossed with no incident.
Once across, as they approached the city, it became obvious the building was divided in sections demarcated by color scheme. The areas were marked Orange and Blue for the Misawa family, Yellow and Green for the Takajima family and finally Brown and Red for the Sun family. Mei said the colors identified the local family that controlled the area. The families got along and held a common understanding to keep the peace. They were all also no friends of the White Ninja. They entered town and headed in the direction of the Misawa area, where Mei had lived and knew the best. She led them to The Perfect Rose inn where they were able to check in and stow their gear.
Heading in to the town for some business, Blargg, Grogg and Crush stopped at a local bath house where Blargg got an education about massage. Suspicious and wary would be appropriate definitions of his response but he eventually went along with the process. The bulk of the party headed out with Mei. Agamemnon and Books went to see if they could attempt to sell wines in the area. Mei took them to a family representative who welcomed their business and gave them temporary permission pending official approval. Kenny visited the armorer and weaponsmith Mugen to have his armor cleaned after having gone in the salt water river. Tyrade visited the local alchemist and filled out more of his shopping list for odd and rare components. And with all the local business completed they ate…. Sushi…
Next time ...
This page and its contents are presented solely for the purpose of the RPG game events conducted by a private group. Any references to people or places is explicitly within the context of these RPG games and has no connection to any other similarly named source.
Bob Senkewicz / Howell, New Jersey / senk@optonline.net